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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. club — for golf
  3. row — to paddle
  4. club — for dancing
  5. clip — a video
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. club — a group
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. clip — to cut
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wound — an injury
  16. hand — help
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — to point toward
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. hand — in cards
  22. row — a line
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com